General Guideline for Authors

Papers that include original empirical data that have not been published anywhere earlier (except as an abstract). Null/negative findings and replication/refutation findings are also welcome. This type of paper normally should not exceed 25 double-spaced pages of text (including references) and should not contain more than 15 figures/tables. We advise a length of 3000-6000 words (including everything).

2. Short Research Articles:

Short Research Articles (or Research Notes) are single-finding papers (or one year experiment for agricultural papers) that can be reported with one or two illustrations (figures/tables) and lab protocols. Posters from conferences or internal meetings may be summarized as Short Research Articles (or Research Notes). In many cases, some additional detail, particularly in the methods, description of the results, and/or discussion/conclusions will be required to make sure that readers (and referees) have enough information to understand the description of the work. We advise a length of 3000-4000 words, plus 3-4 figures and/or tables, and 15-20 key references.

3. Short communications:

Short Communications are urgent communications of important preliminary results that are very original, of high interest and likely to have a significant impact on the subject area of the journal. A Short Communication needs only to demonstrate a ‘proof of principle’. Authors are encouraged to submit an Original Research Paper to the journal following their Short Communication. There is no strict page limit for a Short Communication; however, we advise a length of 2500-3500 words, plus 2-3 figures and/or tables, and 15-20 key references.

4. Review papers:

These papers will not have empirical data acquired by the authors but will include discussion of papers published and data acquired in a specific area. We advise a length of 5000-9000 words, (including 50-150 references plus 3-5 figures and/or tables (if required).

5. Minireview papers:

Minireviews are brief historical perspectives or summaries of developments in fast-moving areas covered within the scope of the journal. They must be based on published articles; they are not outlets for unpublished data. They may address any subject within the scope of the journal. The goal of the Minireviews is to provide a concise summary of a particular field in a manner understandable to all readers. We advise a length of 3000-6000 words, (including 30-70 references plus 2-3 figures and/or tables (if required).

6. Systematic Reviews: (Mainly for bio-medical journals)

Systematic Reviews should usually be based on medical interventions or animal model studies. We recommend that authors consult the PRISMA guidelines for reporting in Systematic Reviews. Systematic Reviews should deal with a clearly formulated question and use systematic and explicit methods to identify, select, and critically assess the relevant research. We advise a length of 5000-9000 words, (including 50-150 references plus 3-5 figures and/or tables (if required).

7. Policy Papers:

The purpose of the policy paper is to provide a comprehensive and persuasive argument justifying the policy recommendations presented in the paper, and therefore to act as a decision-making tool and a call to action for the target audience. We advise a length of 3000-4000 words, plus 3-4 figures and/or tables, and 15-20 key references.

8 . Commentaries / Opinion Articles:

An opinion-based article on a topical issue of broad interest which is intended to engender discussion. We advise a length of 2500-3500 words, plus 2-3 figures and/or tables, and 15-20 key references.

9. Data Notes

Data Notes are brief descriptions of scientific datasets that include details of why and how the data were created; they do not include any analyses or conclusions.

SDI journals welcome protocols for any study design, including observational studies and systematic reviews. All protocols for randomised clinical trials must be registered and follow the CONSORT guidelines; ethical approval for the study must have been already granted.

Study pre-protocols (i.e. discussing provisional study designs) may also be submitted and will be clearly labelled as such when published. Study protocols for pilot and feasibility studies may also be considered.

11. Method Articles:

These articles describe a new experimental or computational method, test or procedure, and should have been well tested. This includes new study methods, substantive modifications to existing methods or innovative applications of existing methods to new models or scientific questions.

We also welcome new technical tools that facilitate the design or performance of experiments and data analysis such as software and laboratory devices, or of new technologies to assist medical treatment such as drug delivery devices. We advise a length of 3000-4000 words, plus 3-4 figures and/or tables, and 15-20 key references.

12. Data Articles (Mainly for bio-medical journals):

A dataset (or set of datasets) together with the associated methods/protocol used to create the data. No analysis of the data, results or conclusions should be included.

13. Case reports / Case studies (Mainly for bio-medical journals):Case reports describe patient cases which are of particular interest due to their novelty and their potential message for clinical practice. While there are several types of case reports, originality and clinical implications constitute the main virtues by which case reports are judged. (Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18677298). Case studies are an invaluable record of the clinical practices of a profession. While case studies cannot provide specific guidance for the management of successive patients, they are a record of clinical interactions which help us to frame questions for more rigorously designed clinical studies. Case studies also provide valuable teaching material, demonstrating both classical and unusual presentations which may confront the practitioner. (Ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2597880/). Abstract (not more than 250 words) of the Case reports should have the following sections: Aims, Presentation of Case, Discussion and Conclusion. Only Case Reports have word limits: Papers should not exceed 2000 words, 20 references or 5 figures.

14. Clinical Practice Articles (Mainly for bio-medical journals):

A short article relating to a specific clinical problem or scenario that discusses issues relating to patient management and treatment pathways using an evidence-based approach. Clinical Practice Articles include case series (i.e. group or series of case reports involving patients who were given similar treatment), but should not be based on a single case (see Case Reports).

15. Grey literature government reports:

A special section of the journal will be dedicated to the publication of (extended) abstracts of “grey literature government reports”. Many governmental research institutes in Europe/world are confronted with the problem that their very good scientific reports are produced directly for governmental sponsors. Results are typically presented in reports, which are published on an institute’s website only. However, scientists like to publish their work in the scientific arena, albeit that there may be little, if any, funding to support writing of the results in a scientific paper. Whereas the reports may be of very high scientific quality, they are not readily disseminated to the scientific world because they are not identified by normal literature attending systems. This then leads to very good scientific work being unnoticed by a wider audience, possible re-duplication of the work in other countries, a loss of resources, and hence to a slower progression of science. Therefore, this journal offers to publish good governmental reports in this peer-reviewed scientific journal via an abstract of the report. As such, this journal will publish (extended) abstracts of governmental reports (in English language only following a regular peer review system. Scientific excellence, open access and English language are the only prerequisites. Upon scientific acceptance of the work, the extended abstract will contain the title of the work, the authors as well as a hyperlink to the original full scientific report. In this way the scientific reports will be opened to a worldwide scientific audience and authoring scientists will get the results of their work disseminated in the scientific arena.

16. Abstracts of scientific meetings:

Abstracts of oral presentations and posters (within the scope of the journal) can be published in discussion with the academic editors. Standardised abstracts (prepared in accordance with journal guidelines) need to be in English language and will be peer-reviewed prior to publication. It is recommended to contact the editor before submitting abstracts of a scientific meeting. Normally a collection of the abstracts (minimum 10 abstracts) will be published in a special issue. Abstracts are not considered for regular issues of the journal. Publication of 'collection of abstracts of a conference, symposia, etc' requires a guest editorial board. Normally the 'Review committee / Screening committee' of the conference will form the guest editorial board. List of the guest editors also will be published in the special issue.

17. Letter to the Editor:

A letter to the editor provides a means of communication between the author of an article and the reader of a journal, allowing continued dialog about journal content to take place. Although not original research per se, a letter may provide new insight, make corrections, offer alternate theories, or request clarification about content printed in the journal. Letters to the Editor are considered for publication (subject to editing and abridgment) provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere. Letters in reference to a Journal article must not exceed 600 words (excluding references). Letters not related to a Journal article must not exceed 600 words (excluding references). A letter can have no more than eight references and one figure or table. A letter can be signed by no more than four authors. Financial associations or other possible conflicts of interest must be disclosed. This type of article will be fully peer-reviewed. Publication charge will be also applicable.

The scholarly book review is considered by some to be a form of academic writing that serves to describe and critically evaluate the content, quality, meaning, and significance of a book. A well-constructed book review can provide a thoughtful perspective and will be appreciated. Scholarly Book Review should be within 2000 words. Scholarly Book Review must have to be systematic and structured and proper references (2-6 numbers) should be cited during the review. Scholarly Book Review must be avoided to advertise the book. Normal peer review process will be followed to ensure the academic quality of such book review. Only academically important and critical review of books will be considered for publication. There will be restrictions on numbers of such articles to be published per year.

Online submission of manuscripts is strongly recommended. Please submit your article through Subcentral. Manuscripts can also be submitted as an email attachment to the editorial office at submission@sciencedomain.org. After submission, a manuscript number will be communicated to the corresponding author within 48 hours.

For submission related problems or all other correspondence, please contact the editorial office at help@sciencedomain.orgor admin@sciencedomain.org.

Peer-review process

To know more about SDI Peer review process and SDI General Editorial Policies.

Manuscript structure

The manuscript should be written in English with a simple layout. The text should be prepared in single column format. Bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. can be used.

The text, excluding the abstract, if required, can be divided into numbered sections with brief headings. Starting from introduction with section 1. subsections should be numbered (for example 2.1 (then 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.2, etc.), up to three levels.

(Note:

1. Case Reports should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Presentation of Case, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Competing Interests, Authors’ Contributions, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References plus figures and/or tables. Abstract (not more than 250 words) of the Case reports should have the following sections: Aims, Presentation of Case, Discussion and Conclusion. Only Case Reports have word limits: Papers should not exceed 2000 words, 20 references or 5 figures. Other Type of papers have no word limits.2. Review papers may have different headings of the sections and are exempted from following these suggestions.3. Research Papers and Short Notes should follow the structure of Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, Competing Interests, Authors’ Contributions, Consent (where applicable), Ethical approval (where applicable), and References plus figures and/or tables.)

Brief guidelines

Title Page

The title page should contain a brief title, name(s) of author(s) and their affiliations. The title should be without any abbreviations and it should enlighten the contents of the paper. All affiliations should be provided with a lower-case superscript letter just after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address.

The name of the corresponding author should be indicated along with telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) along with full postal address and e-mail address.

AbstractThe abstract should be concise and informative. It should not exceed 300 words in length. It should briefly describe the purpose of the work, techniques and methods used, major findings with important data and conclusions. Different sub-sections, as given below, should be used. No references should be cited in this part. Generally non-standard abbreviations should not be used, if necessary they should be clearly defined in the abstract, at first use.

SAMPLE ABSTRACT:

Aims: Here clearly write the aims of this study. Sample: To correlate platelet count, splenic index (SI), platelet count/spleen diameter ratio and portal-systemic venous collaterals with the presence of esophageal varices in advanced liver disease to validate other screening parameters.Study design: Mention the design of the study here.Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Department of Medicine (Medical Unit IV) and Department of Radiology, Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), Services Hospital Lahore, between June 2009 and July 2010.Methodology: Please write main points of the research methodology applied. Sample: We included 63 patients (40 men, 23 women; age range 18-75 years) with liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension, with or without the medical history of gastrointestinal bleeding. Clinical as well as hematological examination (platelet count) and ultrasonography (gray as well as color Doppler scale including splenic index and splenorenal/ pancreaticoduodenal collaterals) was done besides upper GI endoscopy for esophageal varices. Platelet count/spleen diameter ratio was also calculated.Results: Kindly make sure to include relevant statistics here, such as sample sizes, response rates, P-values or Confidence Intervals. Do not just say "there were differences between the groups". sample: Out of 63 patients, 36 patients with small varices (F1/F2) and 27 with larger (F3) varices were detected on endoscope. Significant increase in mean splenic index from low (86.7 +/- 27.4) to high (94.7 +/- 27.7) grade varices was documented. Opposite trend was found with platelets (120.2 +/- 63.5 to 69.8 +/- 36.1) and platelets/ splenic diameter ratio (1676.7 to 824.6) declining significantly. Logistic regression showed splenic collaterals and platelets are significantly but negatively associated with esophageal varices grades.Conclusion: Non-invasive independent predictors for screening esophageal varices may decrease medical as well as financial burden, hence improving the management of cirrhotic patients. These predictors, however, need further work to validate reliability.

KeywordsImmediately after the abstract, about 4-8 keywords should be given. Use of abbreviations should be avoided, only standard abbreviations, well known in the established area may be used, if appropriate. These keywords will be used for indexing.

Abbreviations

Non-standard abbreviations should be listed and full form of each abbreviation should be given in parentheses at first use in the text.

Introduction

Provide a factual background, clearly defined problem, proposed solution, a brief literature survey and the scope and justification of the work done.

Material and methods

Give adequate information to allow the experiment to be reproduced. Already published methods should be mentioned with references. Significant modifications of published methods and new methods should be described in detail. This section will include sub-sections. Tables & figures should be placed inside the text. Tables and figures should be presented as per their appearance in the text. It is suggested that the discussion about the tables and figures should appear in the text before the appearance of the respective tables and figures. No tables or figures should be given without discussion or reference inside the text.

Tables should be explanatory enough to be understandable without any text reference. Double spacing should be maintained throughout the table, including table headings and footnotes. Table headings should be placed above the table. Footnotes should be placed below the table with superscript lowercase letters.

Each figure should have a caption. The caption should be concise and typed separately, not on the figure area. Figures should be self-explanatory. Information presented in the figure should not be repeated in the table. All symbols and abbreviations used in the illustrations should be defined clearly. Figure legends should be given below the figures.

Some guidelines for Medical papers:Randomized controlled trials should follow the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) guidelines (http://www.consort-statement.org).Case reports, case series, cross-sectional and other observational studies should follow the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines (http://www.strobe-statement.org). If the detailed methods are explicitly stated in the manuscript for single case studies, STROBE may be avoided.Authors producing systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines (http://www.prisma-statement.org).

Results & Discussion

Results should be clearly described in a concise manner. Results for different parameters should be described under subheadings or in separate paragraph. Table or figure numbers should be mentioned in parentheses for better understanding.

The discussion should not repeat the results, but provide detailed interpretation of data. This should interpret the significance of the findings of the work. Citations should be given in support of the findings. The results and discussion part can also be described as separate, if appropriate.

Tables & Figures

Tables & figures should be placed inside the text. Tables and figures should be presented as per their appearance in the text. It is suggested that the discussion about the tables and figures should appear in the text before the appearance of the respective tables and figures. No tables or figures should be given without discussion or reference inside the text.

Tables should be explanatory enough to be understandable without any text reference. Double spacing should be maintained throughout the table, including table headings and footnotes. Table headings should be placed above the table. Footnotes should be placed below the table with superscript lowercase letters.

Each figure should have a caption. The caption should be concise and typed separately, not on the figure area. Figures should be self-explanatory. Information presented in the figure should not be repeated in the table. All symbols and abbreviations used in the illustrations should be defined clearly. Figure legends should be given below the figures.

Guideline for Reporting P values:

P is always italicized and capitalized.

i) Correct expression: (P = .05). Wrong Expression: (P < .05), unless P < .001.ii) The P value should be expressed to 2 digits whether or not it is significant. If P < .01, it should be expressed to 3 digits.iii) When rounding, 3 digits is acceptable if rounding would change the significance of a value (eg, P = .049 rounded to .05).iv) Expressing P to more than 3 significant digits does not add useful information since precise P values with extreme results are sensitive to biases or departures from the statistical model.v) Reporting actual P values avoids this problem of interpretation. P values should not be listed as not significant (NS) since, for meta-analysis, the actual values are important and not providing exact P values is a form of incomplete reporting.vi) Do not use 0 before the decimal point for statistical values P, alpha, and beta because they cannot equal 1.

Conclusions

This should briefly state the major findings of the study.

Acknowledgments A brief acknowledgment section may be given after the conclusion section just before the references. The acknowledgments of people who provided assistance in manuscript preparation, funding for research, etc. should be listed in this section. All sources of funding should be declared as an acknowledgment. Authors should declare the role of the funding agency, if any, in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript. If the study sponsors had no such involvement, the authors should so state.

Competing Interests

Declaration of competing interest is compulsory. All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. If no such declaration has been made by the authors, SDI reserves to assume and write this sentence: “Authors have declared that no competing interests exist.”.

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS

Authors may use the following wording for this section: “ ‘Author A’ designed the study, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. ‘Author B’ and ‘Author C’ managed the analyses of the study. ‘Author C’ managed the literature searches…… All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

CONSENT (WHERE EVER APPLICABLE)

No manuscripts will be peer-reviewed if a statement of patient consent is not presented during submission (wherever applicable).This section is compulsory for medical journals. Other journals may require this section if found suitable. It should provide a statement to confirm that the patient has given their informed consent for the case report to be published. Journal editorial office may ask the copies of the consent documentation at any time.

Authors may use a form from their own institution or SDI Patient Consent Form 1.0. It is preferable that authors should send this form along with the submission. But if already not sent during submission, we may request to see a copy at any stages of pre and post publication.

If the person described in the case report has died, then consent for publication must be collected from their next of kin. If the individual described in the case report is a minor, or unable to provide consent, then consent must be sought from their parents or legal guardians.

Authors may use the following wording for this section: "All authors declare that ‘written informed consent was obtained from the patient (or other approved parties) for publication of this case report and accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editorial office/Chief Editor/Editorial Board members of this journal."

ETHICAL APPROVAL (WHERE EVER APPLICABLE)

This section is compulsory for medical journals. Other journals may require this section if found suitable. If human subjects are involved, informed consent, protection of privacy, and other human rights are further criteria against which the manuscript will be judged. It should provide a statement to confirm that the authors have obtained all necessary ethical approval from suitable Institutional or State or National or International Committee. This confirms either that this study is not against the public interest, or that the release of information is allowed by legislation.

All manuscripts which deal with animal subjects must be approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Ethical Committee, or an Animal Utilization Study Committee. , and this statement, and approval number, must accompany the submission. If required, the author should be ready to submit a scanned copy of the IRB or Ethical Committee Approval at any stage of publication (Pre of post publication stage). The manuscript should contain information about any post-operative care and pain management for the animals.

For manuscripts involving animal experiments, Authors may use the following wording for this section “All authors hereby declare that "Principles of laboratory animal care" (NIH publication No. 85-23, revised 1985) were followed, as well as specific national laws where applicable. All experiments have been examined and approved by the appropriate ethics committee”

All manuscripts which deal with the study of human subjects must be accompanied by Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethical Committee Approval, or the national or regional equivalent. The name of the Board or Committee giving approval and the study number assigned must accompany the submission. If required, the author should be ready to submit a scanned copy of the IRB or Ethical Committee Approval at any stage of publication (Pre or post publication stage).

For manuscripts involving human experiments, Authors may use the following wording for this section: “All authors hereby declare that all experiments have been examined and approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.”

Reference style

References must be listed at the end of the manuscript and numbered in the order that they appear in the text. Every reference referred in the text must also present in the reference list and vice versa. In the text, citations should be indicated by the reference number in brackets [3].

Only published or accepted manuscripts should be included in the reference list. Articles submitted for publication, unpublished findings and personal communications should not be included in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text (e.g., T Nelson, Purdue University, USA, Unpublished results or personal communication). Avoid citing a “personal communication” unless it provides essential information not available from a public source, in which case the name of the person and date of communication should be cited in parentheses in the text. For scientific articles, obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of a personal communication. An unpublished result which has been accepted for publication in any journal should be cited as "in press". Journal name abbreviations should be those found in the NCBI databases (Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals).

Note: All SDI journals will follow this new reference style, effective from 09 Oct, 2012.

Note: List the first six authors followed by et al.Note: Use of DOI number for the full-text article is encouraged. (if available).Note: Authors are also encouraged to add other database's unique identifier (like PUBMED ID).

For Accepted, unpublished papers.Same as above, but “In press” appears instead of the page numbers.

Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. A study of digit fusion in the mouse embryo. J Embryol Exp Morphol. 2009;49(2):259–276.

Nomenclature and UnitsInternationally accepted rules and the international system of units (SI) should be used. If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI.

For biological nomenclature, the conventions of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria, and theInternational Code of Zoological Nomenclature should be followed.

Scientific names of all biological creatures (crops, plants, insects, birds, mammals, etc.) should be mentioned in parentheses at first use of their English term.

Chemical nomenclature, as laid down in the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the official recommendations of the IUPAC-IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature should be followed. All biocides and other organic compounds must be identified by their Geneva names when first used in the text. Active ingredients of all formulations should be likewise identified.

Math formulae All equations referred to in the text should be numbered serially at the right-hand side in parentheses. Meaning of all symbols should be given immediately after the equation at first use. Instead of root signs, fractional powers should be used.Subscripts and superscripts should be presented clearly. Variables should be presented in italics. Greek letters and non-Roman symbols should be described in the margin at their first use.

To avoid any misunderstanding zero (0) and the letter O, and one (1) and the letter l should be clearly differentiated.For simple fractions use of the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line is recommended.Levels of statistical significance such as: *P <0.05, **P <0.01 and ***P <0.001 do not require any further explanation.

Copyright and License

1. Submission of a manuscript clearly indicates that: the study has not been published before or is not under consideration for publication elsewhere (except as an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis); its publication is permitted by all authors and after accepted for publication it will not be submitted for publication anywhere else, in English or in any other language, without the written approval of the copyright holder.

2. The journal may consider manuscripts that are translations of articles originally published in another language. In this case, the consent of the journal in which the article was originally published must be obtained and the fact that the article has already been published must be made clear on submission and stated in the abstract. It is compulsory for the authors to ensure that no material submitted as part of a manuscript infringes existing copyrights or the rights of a third party.

8. Authors requiring a variation of this type should inform SCIENCEDOMAIN international during or immediately after submission of their article. Changes to the copyright line cannot be made after publication of an article.

9. Authors should mandatorily ensure that submission of a manuscript to SCIENCEDOMAIN international would result in no breach of contract or of confidence or of commitment given to secrecy.

Proofs

A PDF file of proof will be sent to the corresponding author as an e-mail attachment. Authors will be asked to check any typographical or minor clerical errors in the manuscript at this stage. No other major alteration in the manuscript is allowed. After publication authors can freely access the full text of the article as well as can download and print the PDF file.